1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to radio frequency (RF) coaxial connectors. More specifically, the present invention relates to coaxial connectors having a conductive elastomeric ground plane.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many connectors are known in the RF connector field. One known type of RF connector includes two end connectors that are connected by a coaxial wire. End connectors typically include threaded caps that are screwed onto a corresponding connector to provide a mechanical and electrical connection. Examples of this type of RF connector are SMA, GPO, and MMCX connectors. With this type of RF connector, a connector is required for each signal line. That is, if there are four signal lines, then four connectors are required.
These types of RF connectors have several problems. They are expensive because an RF connector is required for each signal line. The density of this type of connector is relatively low and is limited by the size of the end connector and by any tool needed to connect this type of connector to a printed circuit board. A connector must be provided on the target printed circuit board by soldering or screwing, which makes the RF connector very hard to replace in the field. Often the small size of RF connectors requires very high un-mating forces which often causes damage to the solder joint or the target printed circuit board. Mating and un-mating of the RF connectors requires a large amount of time. Because only one signal line at a time can be mated, the chance of incorrectly mating the signals of the RF connector increases.
Another known type of RF connector includes a plurality of coaxial wires, in which one end of the plurality of coaxial wires is connected to an end connector and in which the other ends of the plurality of coaxial wires are arranged in an array that uses connector-less solutions, e.g., gold dot, fuzz button, silver particles suspended in an elastomer, etc. With this type of RF connector, a single connector can be used when multiple signal lines are required.
This type of RF connector has several problems. The electrical performance of these connectors is relatively poor. The lifetime of some of these connectors is relatively short because of the limited mating cycles of the connector-less solutions. Some of these connectors also require a large normal force to mate the connector.